Verifications cuts workers

Employer lays off 27 in South Dakota - no word on how many in Aberdeen

Employer lays off 27 in South Dakota - no word on how many in Aberdeen

March 06, 2009|BY EMILY ARTHUR-RICHARDT, earthur@aberdeennews.com

Verifications, citing the struggling economy, laid off 27 people on Thursday at its three South Dakota locations. Samantha Hanson, executive vice president of products and people for the Minneapolis-based company, said the layoffs occurred in Aberdeen, Watertown and Mitchell. She declined to say how many came from each location. Hanson said employees were notified of the layoffs on Thursday. They were effective immediately, and those laid off received a severance package, she said. "(Thursday's) events helped us to scale our organization to meet the new economic situation," Hanson said. "...It enables us to bring available employees back to full-time status." In November, Verifications had reduced its employees' work schedules 20 percent to avoid layoffs, Hanson said. She said those hours will be restored starting Monday, bringing all remaining employees back to full-time. Verifications, which conducts employment screening services for global and national companies, employs about 530 people in Aberdeen, Watertown and Mitchell. Hanson said in the midst of an economic crisis, companies aren't hiring as much; therefore, jobs are down for Verifications. Verifications employs about 140 people in Aberdeen. "The message we want to send here as an employer, is that we stabilized our company, which was hit significantly by the economic situation," Hanson said. "...Verifications very much values its employees and thanks those individuals who were in those positions that were eliminated."